The Learning Corner by Precursor

The Learning Corner by Precursor

By Mia Farnham, Charles HudsonBusinessTechnologyInvesting
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The Learning Corner by Precursor episodes

  • Episode #100: 300 Reads Later, Are VC Skills Obsolete?, Making Venture Exciting Again
    For our 100th episode, we turn the mic on Charles to reflect on the state of venture, using the themes that have come up again and again across roughly 300 good reads since we started the show. We dig into whether the skills that made investors great still matter in an AI-first market, drawing on pieces like Alberto Romero's "You Spent Your Whole Life Getting Good at the Wrong Thing" and Sarah Guo's "Relevance Decays." Charles looks back on what surprised him most over the last two years, from the seed squeeze and the bubble debate to founders who now say they work for their AI agents. We close on where venture needs to go to feel exciting again, and the one line summary of venture in 2026 Charles would leave for someone reading it in 2036.

    [You Spent Your Whole Life Getting Good at the Wrong Thing, Alberto Romero](https://www.thealgorithmicbridge.com/p/you-spent-your-whole-life-getting)

    [Relevance Decays, Sarah Guo](https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/relevance-decays-sarah-guo-ps0lc)

    [No Country for Old Founders, Euclid Ventures](https://insights.euclid.vc/p/no-country-for-old-founders)

    [Everyone Wants to Be AI-Pilled. Most Companies Are Still Level 1, Ann Miura-Ko](https://x.com/annimaniac/status/2050225284277026990)

    [A Crisis Moment for Seed VC, Rob Go](https://nextview.vc/blog/a-crisis-moment-for-seed-vc/)

    [VCs Are Cockroaches, Micah Rosenbloom](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/micah-rosenbloom-a0350_%F0%9D%97%A9%F0%9D%97%96%F0%9D%98%80-%F0%9D%97%AE%F0%9D%97%BF%F0%9D%97%B2-%F0%9D%97%96%F0%9D%97%BC%F0%9D%97%B0%F0%9D%97%B8%F0%9D%97%BF%F0%9D%97%BC%F0%9D%97%AE%F0%9D%97%B0%F0%9D%97%B5%F0%9D%97%B2%F0%9D%98%80-%F0%9D%98%81%F0%9D%97%B5%F0%9D%97%B2%F0%9D%98%86-activity-7372386276894724097-hJhP)

    [I See Dead VCs, Beezer Clarkson](https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/i-see-dead-vcs-elizabeth-beezer-clarkson-uc4xc/)

    [Hey There's a Bubble, M.G. Siegler](https://spyglass.org/ai-bubble/)

    [Bubbles and Balloons, Kanyi Maqubela](https://x.com/km/status/2021831071617495415)

    [The AI Wildfire Is Coming, Dion Lim](https://ceodinner.substack.com/p/the-ai-wildfire-is-coming-its-going)

    [Patient Capital Will Eat the World, Will Manidis](https://x.com/willmanidis/status/2018318844247347308)

    [Startup Founders Are Working Harder Than Ever to Keep Up With Their AI Agents, WSJ](https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/ai-agents-startup-work-culture-fa10494d)

    [VC-Backed Startups Are Low Status, Michael Dempsey](https://mhdempsey.substack.com/p/vc-backed-startups-are-low-status)

    [Build What's Fundable, Kyle Harrison](https://investing101.substack.com/p/build-whats-fundable)

    [Tool Shaped Objects, Will Manidis](https://x.com/WillManidis/status/2021655191901155534)

    [What Capital Wants, Yoni Rechtman](https://99d.substack.com/p/what-capital-wants)

    [The Changing Math Behind Seed Investing, Micah Rosenbloom](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/micah-rosenbloom-a0350_if-you-invested-500k-in-a-startup-in-2025-activity-7449485836909195264-QOMT)

    (0:00) Venture Pressure and the Hundredth Episode
    (4:57) What Changed in Venture Thinking
    (11:25) Fund Models, Liquidity, and Capitulation
    (15:07) Young Founders, AI, and Market Mood
    23 min
  • Episode #99: The Death of VC’s Short Kings, Seed Valuations Need a Correction
    This week Mia and Charles dig into Kyle Harrison’s “The Death of Venture Capital’s Short Kings,” on Benchmark and USV, the two firms that built their identities on staying small, both raising their largest funds ever this year. Then Nnamdi Iregbulem’s “Valuations Need a Correction” argues that seed valuations are financing prices for the few companies that successfully raise, not a read on what the average startup is worth. Once you correct for that, seed market value is climbing while the number of active seed startups shrinks, a concentration story that looks a lot like the Mag 7 and the S&P 500. Two pieces, one thread: more capital and higher marks are telling a much narrower story than the headlines suggest.

    [The Death of Venture Capital's Short Kings](https://x.com/kwharrison13/status/2108931049506083092)

    [Valuations Need a Correction](https://whoisnnamdi.substack.com/p/valuations-need-a-correction)

    (0:00) Venture Valuations and Fund Sizes
    (7:29) The Long Tail Beyond Mega Funds
    (16:05) Nnamdi Irregulum on Seed Prices
    25 min
  • Episode #98: Relevance Runway vs Cash Runway, 20VC Venky Ganesan Episode Breakdown On Seed Being An Option
    This week Mia and Charles start with Steve Vassallo's argument that founders obsess over cash runway when the clock that actually matters is relevance runway, and that plenty of well funded companies are racing against good enough AI versions of their own product. Then they dig into Venky Ganesan's 20VC episode with Harry Stebbings, where he says every seed check is an option bet and large funds are indifferent to seed valuations because they are buying a seat at the table. Charles answers from the pre-seed seat: is a Precursor check an option or a bet, and does ownership still matter before a company is an outlier?

    Relevance Runway, Steve Vassallo

    Can You Still Win in Venture Without a $1BN Fund? Venky Ganesan on the New Rules of VC, 20VC

    (0:00) Venture’s shift toward a single “big company or bust” model and the concept of relevance runway
    (2:28) Balancing runway and urgency at early stages
    (4:37) How category shifts can reset startup timelines
    (8:38) Considering M&A when companies can’t regain relevance
    (11:01) Timing of acquisition interest and risks of waiting too long
    (12:05) Venky’s “seed as an option bet” framing on 20VC
    (13:29) Impact of multistage funds on seed investing and signaling risk
    (15:48) Ownership, mid-sized outcomes, and mega-round expectations
    (19:22) Multistage firms, consensus founders, and challenges in seed investing
    (20:19) Going all in on AI and the single dominant thesis in venture
    (21:36) Menlo’s AI bet, firm strategy, and adapting positions
    (22:54) Adapting investment strategy as venture shifts
    (23:09) Wrap-up and sign-off
    24 min
  • Episode #97: Rob Go of NextView on Seed VC's Existential Crisis
    This week on The Learning Corner, Mia and Charles welcome Rob Go, Cofounder and Partner at NextView Ventures, whose writing has been a staple of our reading list since the beginning. We revisit his piece arguing that seed VC is facing a structural crisis rather than a normal down cycle, and the one question he says the whole debate comes down to: classic venture or super compounder? Rob also breaks down the four approaches to early stage venture and how funds drift down the valuation curve without meaning to.

    A Crisis Moment for Seed VC

    More Thoughts on the Existential Crisis in Seed: One Question, Two Views of the World
    The Four Approaches to Early Stage Venture
    Where Do You Live on the Valuation Curve?

    (0:00) Introduction: Seed investing in a maturing market, Robko and Nextview
    (1:40) CVC’s structural crisis, power law, and AI
    (4:32) Three venture paths: super compounders, classic VC, and alternative models
    (6:20) Seed investing challenges: higher entry prices and weaker downstream financing
    (7:20) How funds and LPs choose venture models
    (9:52) Coexistence of early-stage models and rising execution standards
    (13:03) Guiding founders on choosing the right path
    (15:36) Bridges, extensions, and changing fundraising expectations
    (17:44) Valuation curves: does buying below the median still work?
    (19:34) Stretching the model vs. sticking to entry-price parameters
    (20:17) Paying up for outliers vs. finding diamonds in the rough
    (20:49) Founder characteristics as signals for premium pricing
    (20:56) Data on 10x probability and entry price correlation
    (21:07) Wrap-up and thanks
    22 min
  • Episode #96: a16z's College Alternative, Running From the Luxury Bus, Is the Music About to Stop?
    This week on The Learning Corner, Mia and Charles dig into Andreessen Horowitz's $35 million bet on the Horowitz Andreessen Academy, a two year college alternative backed by Anthropic, Google, Meta, Nvidia and OpenAI. They then unpack a sharp post from signüll arguing this may be both the best and worst time to start a company, as AI makes building cheap and advantages disappear just as fast, with the big labs close behind. The episode closes with Venky Ganesan of Menlo Ventures on reflexivity in AI valuations, house money versus FOMO, and why position sizing may matter as much as picking winners.

    The Tech Elite Is Funding an Alternative to College

    The Best and Worst Time to Start a Company
    When the Music Is Playing

    (0:00) Introduction, musical chairs analogy, and episode overview
    (1:03) Andreessen Horowitz’s alternative-to-college academy
    (2:24) The rise of education experiments and who alternative pathways serve
    (6:40) Shifting early education and family acceptance
    (9:42) Starting a company in the AI era: timing, moats, and differentiation
    (13:11) Pivoting versus staying the course
    (14:11) Finding adjacent problems and unexpected product-market fit
    (16:39) Venky Ganesan on “when the music is playing” in venture
    (18:23) Does venture have a real corrective grading force?
    (19:11) The penalty for dancing in venture and the musical chairs analogy
    (19:43) Who already has a chair and why some firms are insulated
    (20:46) How firms can lose their chair: performance and LP constraints
    (21:34) Being honest about your firm’s position
    (21:58) Closing remarks and sign-off
    23 min
  • Episode #95: The Fool's Gold Problem, Dario's "We Must Pace the Frontier"
    This week on The Learning Corner, Mia and Charles dig into Gil Dibner's argument that venture has barbelled into two extremes, a tiny set of consensus darlings that can raise at any price and everyone else, who are increasingly paying pure gold prices for fool's gold. Then they turn to Dario Amodei's essay "We Must Pace the Frontier," the rare moment where Amodei, Sam Altman, and Elon Musk all agreed the AI industry needs to slow down. They unpack what "pacing" actually means, and whether it is good or bad news for the thousands of startups building on top of these models.

    Raising the Bar: Inception-Stage Venture in the Age of Consensus

    We Must Pace the Frontier

    (0:00) AI's rapid advancement and its impact on venture capital
    (0:41) Introduction and episode overview
    (1:01) Gil Dibner's article on venture capital extremes
    (2:01) Portfolio math, defensive reserves, and strategic investments
    (4:02) Criteria for second checks and exit paths for companies
    (6:08) Bridge funding challenges and non-consensus bets
    (10:06) Dario Amadeh's essay on pacing AI frontier development
    (12:03) Initial reactions and regulatory capture concerns in AI
    (16:21) Implications for founders at the application layer
    (17:02) Geopolitical considerations in AI development
    (18:10) Ripple effects of slowing AI frontier labs on venture capital
    (21:52) Public sentiment and market impact of AI companies
    (22:04) Closing remarks and listener appreciation
    23 min
  • Episode #94: The Middle Ground Is Gone, Funded Teams With No Plan, Being Legible to Capital
    This week Mia and Charles dig into a market that only seems to have two speeds. Ethan Kurzweil of Chemistry argues the trillion dollar startup is a pink elephant nobody can unsee, and that the pedestrian double or triple has become a relic of a bygone era. David Cahn looks at what happens after the money lands: a generation of well funded teams with big visions and no clear steps to get there. Nikunj Kothari of FPV Ventures closes it out with a tactical playbook for founders raising this fall, from the number you say out loud to why VCs don't actually want a "deal."

    Go Big or Go Broke: The Middle Ground is Gone

    They Built the Team. They Raised the Money. Now What?
    Being Legible to Capital

    (0:00) Intro & founder re-entering the market analogy
    (0:54) Ethan Kurzweil's article on venture trends
    (1:45) Charles Hudson's feedback to portfolio companies
    (4:00) Fundraising strategy changes
    (5:08) Shifts in investor specialization
    (6:26) Venture capital asset class maturity
    (7:29) Yoni's post on what capital wants
    (9:10) David Kahn's article on post-funding challenges
    (11:25) Capital and founder insights
    (12:29) Reaction to competitors' large fundraises & need for peer support
    (14:54) Nakunj Khathari's fundraising advice
    (16:17) Understanding your fundraising dynamics
    (17:13) Importance of storytelling and narrative
    (18:07) Advice for non-favorable sector founders & closing remarks
    20 min
  • Episode #93: Vertical AI Today with Nic Poulos of Euclid Ventures
    This week we sit down with Nic Poulos, Co-Founder and General Partner at Euclid Ventures and one of the sharper voices on vertical AI, to pressure test the thesis as we head into the end of Q3. We dig into what defensibility actually looks like when any founder can spin up a vertical AI product in a weekend, why a $500M median exit is great math for some funds and tough math for others, and where "death of SaaS" narrative currently sits. Nic also revisits his 2026 predictions on deep tech fragmenting and religion as a vertical AI opportunity.

    The Vertical Report 2026 by Euclid Ventures

    40 Predictions for 2026 by Nic Poulos, Omar El-Ayat, Luke Sophinos, and Todd Saunders
    Clear Eyes, Full Stack, Can't Lose? by Nic Poulos
    The Verticalist Summit, September 23 in San Francisco
    The Verticalist Newsletter
    Verticals: A Weekly Biz Show

    (0:00) AI misconceptions, podcast intro, and guest Nic Poulos
    (1:07) Euclid's genesis and focus on vertical AI
    (1:42) State of vertical AI and market reception
    (2:19) Thesis and rapid adoption of vertical AI
    (3:29) Evolution of vertical AI vs. vertical SaaS
    (5:32) "Death of SaaS" narrative and current thoughts
    (7:36) Changing expectations for software and customer requirements
    (9:23) Customer needs across different verticals
    (10:27) Broad applicability of vertical AI
    (12:01) Defensibility and key factors in vertical AI
    (14:22) Distribution and customer support in vertical AI
    (16:19) Exit values and venture math in vertical AI
    (18:25) Mid-market M&A and future market dynamics
    (19:41) Fragmentation of deep tech and subcategories
    (21:22) Predictions on religious institutions and AI
    (22:28) Deals surge in religious communities, closing remarks
    (22:50) Episode end
    24 min
  • Episode #92: Working for Your AI Agent, Engineering Leaders Head for the Exit, What Capital Wants Now
    This week on The Learning Corner, Mia and Charles dig into how the rise of AI agents is paradoxically driving startup founders to work longer and harder than ever, with some monitoring their bots around the clock and describing the experience as nothing short of addictive. They then unpack a wave of CTOs and engineering leaders quietly walking away from their roles, driven by founder mode, preference stacks that have rendered equity nearly worthless, and the fact that AI labs like Anthropic are now paying individual contributors more than most executives make elsewhere. The episode closes with a sharp, timely read on what growth investors actually want right now: a credible path to a $20 billion company with you as the emerging winner, nothing more and nothing less.

    Startup Founders Are Working Harder Than Ever to Keep Up With Their AI Agents - Katherine Bindley, WSJ

    Headed for the Exit: the Great Engineering Leader Career Break - Gergely Orosz, The Pragmatic Engineer

    What Capital Wants - Yoni Rechtman, 99D

    (0:00) Introduction, educating the market, and welcome
    (0:51) Article discussion: Startup founders and AI agents (WSJ)
    (1:44) The human cost of AI agents and founder burnout
    (3:08) Pressure to constantly work with AI agents
    (7:10) Article discussion: Engineering leader career breaks (Pragmatic Engineer)
    (9:05) Role of speed and planning in startups
    (14:02) AI transformation in big companies
    (16:32) Learning AI transformation at scale
    (17:20) Article discussion: What capital wants (Slow Substack)
    (18:30) Advice for founders on pitching investors
    (20:43) Attaching your product to current market interests
    (23:51) Advice for convincing investors about the market
    (25:03) Shifting strategies and being a generalist investor
    (25:40) Signaling for founders vs LPs in investment strategies
    (26:48) Closing remarks and acknowledgments
    28 min
  • Episode #91: AI Rocketship or Left for Dead, The Worst VC Introduction, To Be or To Do
    This week on The Learning Corner, an observation from investor Matt Turck that startups today are either AI-native rocketships or left for dead opens up a real conversation about what that binary actually means for founders building outside the hype cycle. Michelle Volz's essay "To Be or To Do" uses military legend John Boyd's framework to argue that Silicon Valley has quietly shifted from rewarding builders to rewarding the performance of building, and why discipline is the actual path to the biggest outcomes. We finally close with Vinnie Lauria, Founding Partner at Golden Gate Ventures, who breaks down why a VC who already passed on your company is one of the worst people to introduce you to another investor and why credible signal matters far more than access in fundraising.
    (0:00) Introduction, changing venture landscape, and founder challenges
    (0:43) Matt Turk's AI-native startups post and narrative pushbacks
    (2:10) The binary nature of today's venture environment
    (3:14) Turning down large investment rounds and the Panopticon effect in SF
    (5:06) Trade-offs of slower growth, profitability, and overvalued mega rounds
    (7:06) Investor obligations and shifting focus
    (8:25) Vinny Loria's essay on VC introductions and credible signals
    (11:38) Angel investors vs. institutional VCs
    (14:23) Michelle Bowles' essay on status vs. substance in Silicon Valley
    (15:41) The status game in venture capital
    (17:31) Upstream funding risks and diligence in today's market
    (18:25) Building non-AI companies in the current environment
    (20:24) Sponsor: AngelList
    (20:29) Thanks to listeners and subscription reminder
    21 min

About The Learning Corner by Precursor

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Welcome to the Learning Corner, a weekly Precursor Ventures podcast, where members of the Precursor team walk through their favorite articles and news snippets across the venture ecosystem.